The clarion. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1883-1888, 1887-09-14

..hars will If stop? If, as already pro-
''..sad there should be federal laws 10
Enforce the prohibition policy, your re-
,,,ilset;on of war and reconstruction Gays
sbonld ensbIe you to anticipate the 90,
nos of an army of spies, informers ano
danntv marshals making domlclhaIy
v;s;ts to insure the observance OF the
Law The moral decay which would IN
sv;tahlv result. from such a conoieoh
nsads no portrayal. To me 1t seems the
Lain duty of every citizen who loves the
f;bertv orir sires bequeathed TO Us, 10
ebeck this scheme before it acquires Dan
oarons nroportions. I hold 1t to De one
ef the natural rights of man to do as ne
.,1os ses with his own, provided he inficts
p ~ ;ninrv on another. To protect the
r ~ and nreyent the abuse of that right
Covernu,e,,t is the necessity OF sociai eA-
;stance. TO give adequate power ana YET
aa;c;snfly to guard against the perver-
sion of the grant, IS the prooien vi Ill.
.ha yS;slom of ages has but partially
solved: hence the maxim, Eternai. VIZ
lance is the price of liberty. =
There are surely better remedies ,or
offences against the peace ana goou 2 s..
of society than such a departure lIouA
onr principles of constitutional govern
ment and community independence as
would be federal legislation to enforce a
sumptuary policy. Father Matthew
fonnd reason and moral suasion such
potent factors that his good WORK was
not of a day, but lives after him. IN some
who took the pledge and others VINO
have Joined the temperance societies;
| These and other causes have so acted
upou public opinion and social HABITS as
70 give to the prohibition movement tne
possibilities it now has and could moi
| have enioyed in the not remote past
WHY not trust to religion and educatio I,
| m refinement and science, aided by the
| laws which have the sanction OF expert
ence. to prevent the formation OF haolts
| of intemperance, rather than at the sac
| rif;ce of personal liberty and moral re
snonsibility to undertake, by coerclve
| means. the reformation of the drunkards
| The former may be practicable; the lat
ter. by such methods, is hopeless.
| In the letter to Gov. Lubbock, ad
mitted intemperance to be great evil
hut is it the only one which affiicts soel
ety and calls for more active remedies
The opium habit is reported by stats
tics to be increasing, and sad to relate
that its greatest ravages are among the
gentler and purer sex. Laws exist bu
TAIL to prevent the abuse. In this pro
bibition does not prohibit. Are there
NOT other means? Is there no Peter tc
preach a crusade for the redemption o
woman. the mother of Jesus? of woman
| the last at the cross and first at the sep
lulchre? of woman, the consoling frlen'
in the hospitals, the leader in all on
charities? Is there no st. George to sla..
the Hydra that is poisoning the salt o.
the earth? do not depreciate the eftor
to abate the evil of intemperance, bu
here is an evil more deleterious to MINI
and body, and why, it is asked, IS tn
field unoccupied to which humanity an
manhood are both calling for laborers
Atheism reviles, and free thought, /. e
want of thought, denies the truth o
Revelation, and in the broad day SCOT
at the plan of salvation. The month /
which YOU made your address is report
| ed to have had an exceptionally grea
number of assassinations. The newsps
pers have MANY notices of burglarie'
robberies, rApes and infanticides. ID
yorces are shamefully frequent. Th
war between labor and capital give
cause for grayest apprehensions- Tn
colossal wealth of the few grows i
geometrical proportions, while the tot
: ing millions plod on their weary wa!
Are all these and other evils, crimes an
misfortunes not enumerated, due to on
;; cause ?-or is the one idea an universe
absorbent?
A certain Knight of Malta is said t
have held all the wrongs in the world a
resulting from the suppression of hi
Order. In council to devise ways an
means to protect their city the tame
insisted that there was nothing lik
leather. leave you to make the appl
cation.
/ regret that you did not see prope
to acknowledge that your structures wer
appropriate to what others had said @
done, and were not justified by the tex
of my letter for which you arraign me
/, That would have saved me from this r,
ply, and | think would have been NOR
: Just to you as well as to myself.
| remain, very respectfully,
JEFFERSON DAVIS.